PCC to Open Flagship Store in Downtown Seattle

PCC Community Markets is opening a flagship store in Seattle’s new Rainier Square project, marking the first major grocer to enter the city’s downtown area in more than a decade.

Slated to open upon the building’s completion in mid-2020, PCC will serve as the anchor retailer on the ground level of the 58-story, 1.7-million-square-foot Rainier Square project, located between Union and University Streets and between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. The 20,000-square-foot flagship store will offer fresh, local, organic, sustainably sourced and seasonal products for Belltown, West Edge, Pioneer Square and First Hill neighborhoods, and will bring about 100 new union jobs to the surrounding community.

“Downtown Seattle is a vibrant and growing neighborhood with so many different appetites,” said Cate Hardy, CEO of PCC Community Markets, in a statement. “The opportunity to be part of this community in the central Rainier Square location is of incredible significance for our co-op. We are excited about the impact we can make on behalf of local producers, farmers and ranchers, and the deeper connection we can foster with the town we’ve called home for 65 years.”

More than 95% of PCC’s produce selection is organic, according to the retailer; its meat offerings are 100% organic, non-GMO and grass-fed, and its seafood selection is sustainably sourced, adhering to Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch standards. PCC also said it often sources products from local producers, farmers, ranchers and fishers to provide fresh house-made salads, soups, entrees and side dishes daily.

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PCC will be joined by Amazon and Equinox fitness clubs at the new Rainier Square tower, as well as 722,000 square feet of office space, 188 apartment rentals, nearly 80,000 square feet of retail space and a seven-level underground parking garage. Developed by Wright Runstad & Co. and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, a future phase of the project that will include a luxury-lifestyle hotel is expected to begin construction in late 2018.

“When we started this project, we knew it would be important to include a top-quality grocery store not just to serve the residents of the building, but also the many people who visit or work in the downtown area,” said Greg Johnson, president of Wright Runstad & Co., in a statement. “Rainer Square is an iconic project in the city’s best location and PCC is Seattle’s iconic food market. It’s the perfect match.”

Other grocers in the area include Whole Foods Market, which opened on Westlake Avenue in 2006, and Kress IGA Supermarket on Third Avenue, which opened in 2008, according to an article by the Seattle Times. Asian grocer H Mart is also slated to open a 15,000-square-foot store in downtown Seattle later this year.

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Community-owned PCC operates 10 stores in the Puget Sound area. The co-op will open its Burien store in spring 2018, and it also has plans to open new stores in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood in 2019 and Madison Valley neighborhood in 2020.

Photo courtesy of NBBJ.